Giants' June swoon transfers to Colorado

Updated 11:49 pm, Friday, June 28, 2013

Buster Posey spares the Giants from a second consecutive shutout in Denver with his solo homer in the ninth inning.

Buster Posey spares the Giants from a second consecutive shutout in Denver with his solo homer in the ninth inning.

Photo: Joe Mahoney, Associated Press

Giants' June swoon transfers to Colorado

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Denver -- As much as baseball centers on pitcher facing hitter, it really is a team sport with its share of co-dependencies. If a team scores early, it eases pressure on the starting pitcher. If he does well as a result, the hitters need not feel the weight of the world on every at-bat.

The Giants have it backward. Their woeful offense cannot ignite a fire early. The pitchers feel the need to be perfect, and they give up runs. The hitters have to play catch-up, and the cycle of failure continues.

For the Giants, that means five consecutive losses, which matches their longest streak of the year. They have lost 10 of their past 13 games and 26 of 41, the worst record in the majors over a span that accounts for more than one-quarter of the schedule.

Friday night's 4-1 loss at Coors Field fit the pattern. The Giants failed to score in the first, Barry Zito allowed a run in the bottom half, then surrendered three more in the third on back-to-back homers by Michael Cuddyer and Wilin Rosario.

"When you're in something like this, it's human nature to start pressing," Bochy said. "Everybody wants to do something to spark the club. It may be better to back off some. It's contagious throughout the lineup."

Not in the third spot.

Buster Posey had three of the Giants' four hits against Jhoulys Chacin and Rex Brothers. His leadoff homer in the ninth inning spared his team the embarrassment of becoming the fourth in the 19-season history of Coors Field to be shut out in consecutive games. (The Giants fell 5-0 in their May series finale.)

Fans might throw up their hands and declare this offense incapable of scoring, but the facts show otherwise. The Giants averaged 4.5 runs a game through April and May. They are scoring 3.4 in June.

Marco Scutaro admitted he still does not feel comfortable holding a bat with a splint on his injured left pinkie. Pablo Sandoval is scuffling four games off the disabled list. Brandon Crawford, who was on a tear before he hurt his fingers, is 3-for-22 since.

Gregor Blanco is better suited for hitting seventh, not first. Brandon Belt has not begun his typical mid-year surge, and so it goes.

"At some point, it's going to take somebody to spark this club," Bochy said. "Right now we're missing that spark."

Zito had his best road start of the year (four runs, 5 1/3 innings) but blamed himself for allowing the Giants' 44th first-inning run, which is fourth-highest in the league. Meanwhile, the offense has scored a league-low 29 in the first inning.

"If you go out and give up runs early, sometimes the hitters are not able to sit back and relax," Zito said. "We're certainly putting them in a hole, and tonight I was responsible for that."

But it works both ways. The offense could help Matt Cain on Saturday by scoring an early run or two against Jorge De La Rosa.

Zito had one piece of advice for his mates now that the Giants are three games below .500 at 38-41: Just worry about Saturday.

"If we put too much on our backs, it's not going to be a good situation," he said. "We can't turn the season around in one day."